“Last of Legends” — photographing the world’s finest McLaren collection
As a photographer for over 20 years, I’ve had the privilege of capturing exclusive venues, notable personalities, and locations I once only dreamed of stepping into. On a couple occasions I’ve thought, “This is the project of my life — it can’t get bigger than this.” And then something arrived that proved me wrong.
Just before the pandemic, a message came in via a very dear friend asking if I’d be interested in photographing a supercar collection… a McLaren collection. I barely believed it. My fingers shook as I drafted my offer. When the reply came back “Let’s do it”, the butterflies launched into orbit. I headed to the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking for our first meeting.
When I walked into the collection (then nine cars) I was speechless. It felt holy. A dream made tangible. These weren’t just cars — they were moving art, each curve and detail whispering decades of excellence.
While I’d photographed cars before, never at this scale. It was by far one of the hardest projects I’ve ever done — and also the most satisfying.
Meeting Mansour Ojjeh in person was a moment I’ll never forget. The handshake, his calm presence, his question: “Do you like my collection?” I laughed, told him I felt like a kid in the most exclusive candy shop — still drooling, still in the middle of it, still honoured to be there.
Over the years I was invited back to Woking to photograph more additions to the collection — 21 cars in total. And this wasn’t just any garage of supercars: this was “Last of Legends”, a collection built around owning the very last car ever manufactured from different McLaren models — many of them among the most important machines in automotive history.
And if there’s a special joy in being the first to peel away the protective covers from a new car, imagine experiencing that with a camera in hand — alongside Robert and Peter — as we unwrapped some of the most exquisite supercars in the world.
I’m still pinching myself at how magical this project was. As kids we all played with cars — plastic, metal, big or small — and dreamed of a supercar. I don’t own one, but I had the privilege of photographing the best McLaren collection in the world — without question — and one of the most important and unique car collections anywhere. Close enough. :)
To the Ojjeh family, Josh, Tim and Vlad — all hats off. Thank you for entrusting me with your vision, and thank you for letting me share these glimpses of your world.
